Character (Working Potential ) Assessment

Devised by Graham Mabbutt.

Held at Devon and Cornwall Police Dog Training School.

I
make no comment on the dogs’ construction from the point of view of a breed
judge, as I was there purely to observe the assessment of character. I was
invited by Graham to attend his second assessment of a litter by Overglinns
Bono, ( a working Police dog bred from all working lines ), out of Lidlecornish
Kizzy, ( a Dark v Arolser Holz daughter with the dam’s line in the third
generation including Eiko v Kirschental, Janus v Insel-Wehr, Cito v Bergmannshof,
Falk v Haus Edelflor ). The first assessment took place when the litter was 49
days old. At this second assessment the dogs were 10mths of age. Assessing for
character is done at these young ages to prove inherited character, after this
age training and experience can affect the reactions. A skilful trainer can mask
a dog’s true character, just as a skilful handler can mask a dog’s true
construction. The dogs and owners/handlers were; Brodie and B. Wright, Bronson
and N. Tarrant, Brannigan and D. Curtis, Brannon owned by the Devon and Cornwall
Police, and his handler.

The two assessors were Graham Mabbutt and Dave Edmunds.
Brad, the sire of the litter, also attended with his owner/handler Sgt
Glennon. The demonstration dog was also his, an 11mth old Malinois, who had
recently successfully completed the Police Training Course. I would have found
it more interesting if the sire of the litter had been the demonstration dog.
Then his offspring could have been gauged as to which had inherited his
characteristics in their reaction to the tests, or to demonstrate his different
reaction after training and with more experience. The young German Shepherds
completed the assessment on a par with the trained Malinois, which was pleasing. The owners and the dogs on leads mingled together to test for dog aggression.
Not sure if this proved anything as they were all litter brothers. For the first
part of the assessment the dog was separated from his owner/handler to ‘remove
association and training that comes from the backup of owner, ensuring as far as
possible that all dogs exhibit basic character and are assessed on equal terms.’ (Mabbutt). The dog was secured by a weight on a long lead, and his
reaction to being left observed. Two of the dogs on being left were calm, two
kept running about and became tangled up in the lead, so a person was sent into
the centre, which meant two had a person with them and two did not. Reaction to unusual shape. A helper put a sheet over his
head, carried a split bamboo cane that he hit against his leg to make a noise,
approached towards the dog from about 50yds away.

When he was about 20ft away
from the dog he removed the sheet to show himself to the dog. All of the dogs
were alert to the unusual shape, two did not seem unduly worried by it, remained
calm and confident, but always aware of it in case it became threatening. One
began using avoidance tactics, but quickly decided it was no threat and behaved
like the other two. One barked and hackled up at it, but unsure, backing away
then coming forward again. ( I overheard the Police Sgt. say that was the
reaction he wanted, which is what I have come to expect from them ). This dog was
also unsure when the sheet was removed to reveal a person, and was reluctant to
approach him. Reaction to a friendly approach. Dave or Graham and myself placed
a couple of chairs and sat on them near the dog. Two of the dogs acknowledged us
but not over friendly. One was too friendly, and one quite ingratiating. Reaction to a rattling moving object. For this a bulky sack on a long rope was
moved around, by, and over the dog. The dog that barked and
hackled and was unsure at the unusual shape, was calm and unconcerned about the
rattling moving shape. One of the dogs which was calm and unconcerned about the
unusual shape, backed off and seemed unsure of the object.

The dog was let
off the lead for recall to owner, and left off the lead for the next tests.
Reaction to invitation to play with a stranger with balls and bite bars.
Reaction to being off lead in a hall mixing with adults and children, with no
other dogs present. Reaction to being groomed, clipping of toenails, measuring
stick, being restrained and rolled onto back, all by owner/handler. which all
the dogs completed with the ideal reactions. Reaction to a loud noise. A dummy
launcher normally used to train gun dogs was fired. All the dogs reacted with
sound nerves, gave attention to direction of sound, but unaffected by noise.
Reaction to noise and a moving object. Fired again and the dummy launched, which
arced through the sky. The dog’s correct action would be to follow the dummy
with his eyes, note it fall, chase after it and retrieve it. Two dogs did a
textbook reaction. One went to investigate dummy, did not bring it back, owner
then went with him and the dog retrieved it. One went to investigate the dummy
but did not retrieve it, and when the owner went with him to the dummy he still
would not pick it up, so no retrieve.

The dogs’ were being assessed for strong nerves,
alertness, prey instinct, possessiveness, fighting instinct, response to recall
from owner, bond between dog and owner, ability to forget an unpleasant
experience, reaction to non-threatening strangers, ability to carry, body
sensitivity, intelligence, ability to learn, tractability. I would have liked
some tracking/scenting to test for aptitude for nose work to have been included,
besides that the assessment covered all the relevant aspects of the canine
character. The assessment booklet is easy to understand as it gives the
objective of each exercise, the ideal reaction, and the reactions that detract
from the ideal. The weekend previous I had attended a Breed Council Survey with
our 21/2 years old male, which thoroughly compares the dog to the standard
concerning its construction, plus a test for steadiness to gunfire. When we had
a bitch surveyed in 1996 more tests were included to assess the character It
would be good if the two components could be incorporated, a character
assessment when young ( apart from being well-socialized, which they should be
anyway, no preparation or training needs to be done.) and a construction
assessment when adult to obtain a complete picture of the dog. I would like to
thank Graham for the opportunity to observe the characters of these
young dogs, which I found of special interest as I have a son and a daughter by
Dark v Arolser Holz. out of a bitch from top German show lines, who also have
sound nerves and are unaffected by noise.